Due to her absence in the OP or ED as a member of the “good guys”, it never occurred to me that Nanami would be around long, let along join them. When I first saw her last week, she looked like another tool under absolute lab control; water to Kikako’s fire. But Nanami’s differences from Kikako went far deeper than their superpowers, and she gradually leaves all prior girls who have hunted Neko in the dust in terms of character complexity.
From her love of sweet things (and the dubiousness of her claim about needing the extra sugar for her powers to work) to her observation on how wonderful the outside world is, cracks in the lab’s control gradually build up, until Nanami turns on her handler, and quite effectively so. Her instant powers of memory manipulation are frighteningly wide-ranging, to the point it was only a matter of time before she turned on them. What finally does it is, ironically, meeting her target.
At first, she dumps her handler out of a desire to take care of the job on her own, for which she believed she’d be rewarded. But as we know, the best reward any of the lab girls is a quick death. She’d know this too, but the researchers are careful. But as she takes in her freedom and observes the interactions of friends, whatever rewards she believes the lab will give her starts to pale in comparison.
That’s because the lab will always keep her in the shadows; always make her cover her tracks from the work she does. As a result, she’s a ghost. All she wants is to exist in the memories of others, with affection, not contempt. In spite of her nightmarish upbringing and her crazy powers, she remains unfailingly human. And one fleeting day of humanity just isn’t enough.
While Nanami initially dismisses Ryouta’s offer of friendship, and tries to wipe all of Ryouta’s memories since birth, but he’s protected thanks to his “first write” photographic memory. That failure proves key in her redemption. When she later brainwashes Neko to attack him, Neko calls her a friend. She scans Neko’s memories and learns that they were being genuine in their desire to provide something she wanted so badly, she couldn’t believe it was possible until now.
Right out of the gate, Tokou Nanami is a compelling, complex, cute, scary character with a well thought-out, efficient mini-arc. After thoroughly exploring Kazumi’s character, the show proves it can do the same with a previously unknown character, one who starts out as a foe, at that. . For these reasons, I’m inclined to call this Brynhildr’s best and most complete outing yet.
Stray Observations:
- Kurofuku and Nanami travel in style, in a Toyota Supra Mark III (A70), which bridged the gap between the 80s and 90s.
- Even the fanservice was subdued, with the girls in the bath underscoring their sudden vulnerability, and Nanami’s tendency to use her body to get attention or money.
- Interestingly, the show takes after Brynhildr in having Kurofuku regain his memory by the same means as Kaori in One Week Friends, which also aired today.
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